Jump to content

Union reps show up at my business

deadshank

By deadshank
in Business and Markets

 Share

Recommended Posts

deadshank

deadshank 24652

Posted
Posted

On two recent occasions, I had some union reps show up at my business.  
 

I have a small, specialty roofing and sheet metal operation and a home building / remodeling business.  They were there for the roofing and sheet metal business.  
 

They were feeling me out in becoming a union shop and a little aggressive but not overtly so.  
 

Texas is a RTW state and not heavily unionized.  
 

Why would the come by my little shop? 
 

Any ideas or similar experiences?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NeverMarryAStripper

NeverMarryAStripper 21868

Posted
Posted

During college I worked construction during the summer.  I worked for the company building the Galleria II one summer.  There were a few of us college kids who were general gofers, nothing specialized.  I guess it must have been a union place because they they told us that if the union rep caught us we would have to pay dues.  He came every Friday in a big Cadillac.  We would always see him coming and hide out at the top of the site.  He never did catch us.  I know CSB, but it’s my only experience with unions.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Somnio

Somnio 751

Posted
Posted

There are General Contractors who like to hire union labor, particularly on the big construction projects.

I know unions in Texas oftentimes get a bad rap, but I understand why that's the case.

It's certainly not always the case, but the quality and knowledge of a journeyman tradesman who went through a years long apprenticeship is oftentimes far superior than that of his peers.

They also show up to the job sites with their required certifications, whether it be OSHA,  Forklift, Boom lift, Swing stage, etc.

You wouldn't believe how many rinky dink operations have their guys out there running equipment in which they either don't have, or have an expired certification.

Or with expired or damaged, or non-existent PPE and equipment.

 

  • Hook 'Em 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
deadshank

deadshank 24652

Posted
  • Author
Posted
37 minutes ago, Parliament said:

Tell them you aren't interested, they aren't welcome, and they can fuck around and find out.

I told them that I wasn’t interested.  They pressed. 
 

I explained that I treat my employees as well as a small business can (some have been with me for +20 years so I must be doing something right). Thanks but no thanks.  
 

Went through the same playlist the second time they showed up.  
 

Will let y’all know if I get fitted with concrete boots.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
deadshank

deadshank 24652

Posted
  • Author
Posted
9 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Also rather curious that they would talk to the owner rather than the workers.  What was supposed to be in it for you?

I thought the same thing.  I asked my guys if they had been contacted.  To a man they said “no.”

I asked them what they knew about unions and they were up to speed on them.  I went further and asked if they were interested in that type of thing and they weren’t interested and were pretty hostile to the proposition.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MrBig

MrBig 5369

Posted
Posted

Have you done work for any Karen type of clients? There are “silent” Karens who won’t say shit to your face but will turn around and call every government entity they can just to fuck your shit up because you didn’t do something they liked. Those are the worst type of Karens out there because they won’t stop until they see results. 

  • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Clintonaldo

Clintonaldo 2572

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, deadshank said:

I told them that I wasn’t interested.  They pressed. 
 

I explained that I treat my employees as well as a small business can (some have been with me for +20 years so I must be doing something right). Thanks but no thanks.  
 

Went through the same playlist the second time they showed up.  
 

Will let y’all know if I get fitted with concrete boots.  

Username is about to check out. 

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
  • Haha 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Parliament

Parliament 14228

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Are you sure they were really union reps? Coulda just been casing the joint, trying to figure out where you hide your golden bitcoins.

Or just setting up their protection racket.  You may wanna get a lawyer on retainer.  And the police.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
deadshank

deadshank 24652

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 hours ago, Parliament said:

Or just setting up their protection racket.  You may wanna get a lawyer on retainer.  And the police.

If they are going to attempt to extort money from me then they can just have the joint.  I’ll take a 12 pack of beer.  
 

Doesn’t even have to be cold. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CHIEF

CHIEF 5075

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, Somnio said:

There are General Contractors who like to hire union labor, particularly on the big construction projects.

I know unions in Texas oftentimes get a bad rap, but I understand why that's the case.

It's certainly not always the case, but the quality and knowledge of a journeyman tradesman who went through a years long apprenticeship is oftentimes far superior than that of his peers.

They also show up to the job sites with their required certifications, whether it be OSHA,  Forklift, Boom lift, Swing stage, etc.

You wouldn't believe how many rinky dink operations have their guys out there running equipment in which they either don't have, or have an expired certification.

Or with expired or damaged, or non-existent PPE and equipment.

 

Unions are great at developing qualified workers from apprentice, journeyman, to masters in their trade. They also will keep you out of trouble with OSHA. The problems, I've seen, are inefficiency. 

Trade shows at Freeman's Coliseum in San Antonio are the absolute worst. They won't even let you plug in a surge protector and  you go half the show without electricity. If you want to use a forklift, it is $600/hour with a one hour minimum. The item I want pulled off isn't even worth $600, and I would have to sell twenty of them to pay for that one hour.

I like everything about unions except the greed. They have no idea how to operate in a competitive bid market.

CHIEF

  • Hook 'Em 4
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Somnio

Somnio 751

Posted
Posted

Yep.  Like all things, there are always two sides to the coin.

Having been a tradesman, both union and not, it does piss you off though when some unqualified yahoo, who probably shouldn't even be on the jobsite is doing your job.

And you're competing against guys who use 1099 labor, oftentimes immigrants (NTTAWWT) who are fine working in unsafe conditions, for shit pay and no benefits.

As I said, I can see both sides.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

Unions are great at developing qualified workers from apprentice, journeyman, to masters in their trade. They also will keep you out of trouble with OSHA. The problems, I've seen, are inefficiency. 

Trade shows at Freeman's Coliseum in San Antonio are the absolute worst. They won't even let you plug in a surge protector and  you go half the show without electricity. If you want to use a forklift, it is $600/hour with a one hour minimum. The item I want pulled off isn't even worth $600, and I would have to sell twenty of them to pay for that one hour.

I like everything about unions except the greed. They have no idea how to operate in a competitive bid market.

CHIEF

It's legalized extortion, courtesy of a mafioso type regime.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
deadshank

deadshank 24652

Posted
  • Author
Posted
1 hour ago, Lobo said:

OP-what city is your business in?  Any ideas where these guys are from?  

Houston.   They were in from Chicago.  
 

They weren’t too oily.  More sophisticated than the Vinny Bagadonuts type.   They were nice enough but I could tell they were, at their core, serous union types.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gsoda3

gsoda3 3245

Posted
Posted
During college I worked construction during the summer.  I worked for the company building the Galleria II one summer.  There were a few of us college kids who were general gofers, nothing specialized.  I guess it must have been a union place because they they told us that if the union rep caught us we would have to pay dues.  He came every Friday in a big Cadillac.  We would always see him coming and hide out at the top of the site.  He never did catch us.  I know CSB, but it’s my only experience with unions.
What would've happened to you if you got caught?
Link to comment
Share on other sites
deadshank

deadshank 24652

Posted
  • Author
Posted
1 hour ago, gsoda3 said:
On 5/15/2021 at 2:39 PM, NeverMarryAStripper said:
During college I worked construction during the summer.  I worked for the company building the Galleria II one summer.  There were a few of us college kids who were general gofers, nothing specialized.  I guess it must have been a union place because they they told us that if the union rep caught us we would have to pay dues.  He came every Friday in a big Cadillac.  We would always see him coming and hide out at the top of the site.  He never did catch us.  I know CSB, but it’s my only experience with unions.

What would've happened to you if you got caught?

They would have to pay dues. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31435

Posted
Posted

Union grievance.  If it's your place of employment, a number of union grievances can cost you your job.

Project partner in ME did summers at GD Space Systems in San Diego.  When you are a baby engineer, you get little bullshit projects and half the fun/reward is seeing them installed and working on some larger machine or craft.

My buddy got busted twice installing things he had designed and had manufactured for a piece of the ISS.  That was reserved for union guys, electricians I guess or some kind of assembly worker.  Because of this, he almost didn't get a full-time offer after graduation.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
fattyflattie

fattyflattie 4639

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, deadshank said:

They were in from Chicago.  

Our company is union (aside from mgt).  It fucking sucks.  Try bidding work, then the union rep decides you need an extra 5-10 guys...because, after the fact. Chicago is terrible about that.  Makes a PMs job harder from the get go, at least with regards to cost mgt. We finally got smart and hired a very long term union guy who watches out for us.  Ok, you’re the only guy who can touch this? Well get to work motherfucker.   They don’t like it nearly as much when they’ve got someone enforcing their own rules back on them.  They’ll threaten to call the steward and are surprised when our guy knows the rules to the T.   I can’t speak to electrical trades, but labor, operator, and welders I’ve had better luck with merit shop work. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
NeverMarryAStripper

NeverMarryAStripper 21868

Posted
Posted (edited)
17 hours ago, gsoda3 said:
On 5/15/2021 at 2:39 PM, NeverMarryAStripper said:
During college I worked construction during the summer.  I worked for the company building the Galleria II one summer.  There were a few of us college kids who were general gofers, nothing specialized.  I guess it must have been a union place because they they told us that if the union rep caught us we would have to pay dues.  He came every Friday in a big Cadillac.  We would always see him coming and hide out at the top of the site.  He never did catch us.  I know CSB, but it’s my only experience with unions.

What would've happened to you if you got caught?

I just assumed that I would be swimming with the fishes in Buffalo Bayou

Edited by NeverMarryAStripper
Link to comment
Share on other sites
gsoda3

gsoda3 3245

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, deadshank said:

They would have to pay dues. 

if they refused to pay the dues is the employer obligated to fire them?  or can the employer tell the unions to pound sand with the consequence that all of the unioned workers leave?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ChiTownDoc

ChiTownDoc 21139

Posted
Posted

The concept of Unions is fine.  But how they end up operating once given power almost always leads to corruption, as they’re not properly checked.  I’m sure they’re more savvy in how they operate these days but I definitely see why a small business owner would be leery. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31435

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

The concept of Unions is fine.  But how they end up operating once given power almost always leads to corruption, as they’re not properly checked.  I’m sure they’re more savvy in how they operate these days but I definitely see why a small business owner would be leery. 

Seems the last 20 or so years, they've been mostly ok.  I'm not aware of any of them being mobbed up and I think a lot of them have come to realize that while contract bargaining may put them at odds with management/the employer, they're better off as a whole collaborating and cooperating in a productive way.

Hard lessons learned from the "demise" of the auto industry and the offshoring of manufacturing jobs.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ChiTownDoc

ChiTownDoc 21139

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Seems the last 20 or so years, they've been mostly ok.  I'm not aware of any of them being mobbed up and I think a lot of them have come to realize that while contract bargaining may put them at odds with management/the employer, they're better off as a whole collaborating and cooperating in a productive way.

Hard lessons learned from the "demise" of the auto industry and the offshoring of manufacturing jobs.

They’re still very aggressive in Chicago, where there’s a lot of power.  For example, most condos here require union labor - even if you want to do something very small in your own unit you’re supposed to use union labor.  And, of course, their prices are through the roof compared to anyone else you’d use ‘under the table’.   You know, for crazy stuff like installing a damn safe.  It’s kind of a joke and if you’re good with the people you have managing your building it’s an easy work around.  If not, you’re proper fucked.  

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gil Bang

Gil Bang 25907

Posted
Posted
On 5/16/2021 at 9:32 AM, CHIEF said:

Unions are great at developing qualified workers from apprentice, journeyman, to masters in their trade. They also will keep you out of trouble with OSHA. The problems, I've seen, are inefficiency. 

Trade shows at Freeman's Coliseum in San Antonio are the absolute worst. They won't even let you plug in a surge protector and  you go half the show without electricity. If you want to use a forklift, it is $600/hour with a one hour minimum. The item I want pulled off isn't even worth $600, and I would have to sell twenty of them to pay for that one hour.

I like everything about unions except the greed. They have no idea how to operate in a competitive bid market.

CHIEF

I once worked a trade show: Pacific Coast Builder's Conference, at Moscone Center.   We had a cool little setup, and it was shipped up and delivered to my hotel (the W directly across the street).  I was told that I could carry my cases into the center, but i wasn't allowed to use a dolly.   It was either carry the shit, or hire a union laborer, who COULD use a dolly.  

 

I carried the shit. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Rage+1 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
RDCanecutter

RDCanecutter 26377

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Gil Bang said:

I once worked a trade show: Pacific Coast Builder's Conference, at Moscone Center.   We had a cool little setup, and it was shipped up and delivered to my hotel (the W directly across the street).  I was told that I could carry my cases into the center, but i wasn't allowed to use a dolly.   It was either carry the shit, or hire a union laborer, who COULD use a dolly.  

 

I carried the shit. 

What would have happened if part of your shit was a dolly? Like, I got this one dolly here I am selling, I had a street artist paint it, $4,000 it's yours, it's an Art Dolly.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ChiTownDoc

ChiTownDoc 21139

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, RDCanecutter said:

What would have happened if part of your shit was a dolly? Like, I got this one dolly here I am selling, I had a street artist paint it, $4,000 it's yours, it's an Art Dolly.

They’d buy it only if you promised to make 200 of them.  Then make them a requirement and charge $8000 to conference attendees.  

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TornACL

TornACL 7698

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

What would have happened if part of your shit was a dolly? Like, I got this one dolly here I am selling, I had a street artist paint it, $4,000 it's yours, it's an Art Dolly.

Name it Salvador Dolly and add a zero to that price my man. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Haha 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites
freyguy

freyguy 4260

Posted
Posted
On 5/16/2021 at 1:30 PM, deadshank said:

Houston.   They were in from Chicago.  
 

They weren’t too oily.  More sophisticated than the Vinny Bagadonuts type.   They were nice enough but I could tell they were, at their core, serous union types.  

 

b9a674eb4d019c03f5d5b5f83fff396a.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RDCanecutter

RDCanecutter 26377

Posted
Posted

OP, you need a plan. I suggest keeping this song cued up on the playlist for the next time they show up. Blast it at 11 and shout at them in your best Eastenders accent: "Roight then, oi you lot have you got sumfink to sy, speak up, cahn't ear you, SPEAK UP."

And then, on cue, your roofing guys come out of the shadows wearing flat-caps, belting out the chorus.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
deadshank

deadshank 24652

Posted
  • Author
Posted
5 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

OP, you need a plan. I suggest keeping this song cued up on the playlist for the next time they show up. Blast it at 11 and shout at them in your best Eastenders accent: "Roight then, oi you lot have you got sumfink to sy, speak up, cahn't ear you, SPEAK UP."

And then, on cue, your roofing guys come out of the shadows wearing flat-caps, belting out the chorus.

 

You're gonna get @Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand all hot and wet with that stuff.

(I prefer Billy Bragg's California Stars)

  • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...